Die
Description
Dice. Roman Period, 30 B.C.–A.D. 330. Ivory. 0.6 × 0.7 × 0.7 cm (1/4 × 1/4 × 1/4 in.). From: Oxyrhynchus (Bahnasa), Middle Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: EEF excavations 1896–97. Credit: Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1897.
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
Small carved cube of pale material (likely ivory) bearing incised/painted spiral and dot-like marks on multiple faces, consistent with a dice-like object.
The image shows a small, yellowish, slightly worn cube with rounded edges. Two opposite faces display rows of dark, painted or incised circles/dots arranged in a pattern resembling pips, while another face shows a central spiral or curled motif with additional small circular elements nearby. The surface texture suggests age/erosion and possible partial loss of the original markings. No clearly readable hieroglyphic, Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is legible; the marks appear purely decorative/symbolic rather than alphabetic/inscribed script. No cartouches, royal titulary, or deity iconography can be confirmed from the visible motifs.
Connections
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.